Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Someone spilled paint in my pond?

Woke up to this today... Looks like someone spilled green paint in the pond...

Or maybe some aliens crash landed in there and are melting?

I'll see your green and raise you some red.....

One of the best ways to fix this, Mabros, is the personal Cannonball.

Collect as much as you can of both colors, and bring it to Nebraska when you visit Bruce. All is good, it's not vegetation or plants.

Kinda looks like Christmas!!!


So how bad is it? Guessing it is a bacterial algae? Blue green?

It is plankton IMO (yes plants). A heavy plankton bloom driven by the wind to the bank. Possibly a red euglena and green phytoplankton. There are thousands of types.

According to Bill Cody, 17,000!

I've seen both colors in my pond at different times. A big hole opens up when the feeders go off from the food slick.

In my case, the photo was taken around 3 in the afternoon, in full sun. when I returned to feed around 7, it no longer appeared red, but a greenish brown instead. The entire pond was shaded by that time, so I assumed that was the reason. Pretty cool.

That they know about!

I've never had the red variety in my pond but did get it in a plastic boat I had next to the pond when it got rainwater in it. It's now turned over all the time so it's not an issue.

The 17,000 species was just for the number of species of filamentous algae(FA) and those examples of red and green are not types of FA. We won't scare you as to how many species of algae there are of nonfilamentous algae. In outdoorliving's case it was probably bluegreen(Cyanobacteria) and in spkplg's case it was likely a species of Euglena which can change color as day length changes. I would be more concerned with the bluegreen(toxin potential) compared to the Euglena. Although both when dense can cause severe DO sags during long periods of cloudy days or in early morning hours. It depends.

Thanks Bill, I've had it before and thus far have never suffered for it...it's only on one corner when concentrated by the wind, so coverage is nil.

It's red again this morning.

Great I get the good stuff... We have had some really cool nights, wind and a little bit if rain the last couple day.. It appears that it is still out there but mixed in the water column and not all surfaced in one corner..

What is the best way to get ahead of it? Major concern? I have read the OMG, end of the world post here and other places on the web..

IMO I would lightly treat the downwind surface scums or films with either properly diluted liquid Curtrine-Plus (or similar active copper based ingredient) or with liquid (10 part water:1part GCPro) of "completely" dissolved Green Clean Pro granular @ 1 cup/gal and thoroughly spray just the filmy area. GC Pro is hydrogen peroxide based as active ingredient and generally much 'safer' with no residual bound copper (metal) for the overall pond ecosystem.

Certain algae will move up and down in the water column based on type of species, wind amount, time of day, and or light brightness, intensity. It is advisable for obvious reasons to treat the surface 'film' when it appears early in development and when most dense (usually calm or light breeze) so one gets maximum numbers "trimmed" from the ecosystem. It is extremely difficult, impossible and not necessary to 'get' every individual. IMO pond conditions should be changed or modified to minimize future blooms of same species. Of course if you don't know which specie that is the problem you will never now if a return bloom is same or different since many blooming algae appear much alike to novices without microscopic examination.

Let us know how it works.

I have a 50 lb bag of sodium percarbonate in my shed that I have been spot treating FA.. I will mix up a couple of gallons and spray treat the surface areas and let you know the results...

Had a nice wind from the north this AM and it was all pushed up in the same corner again.. Went out and mixed up 2 gallons of sodium percarbonate and sprayed the surface...Went home on my lunch hour and the there was still a small area that was surfaced and together so hit it again with another gallon them finished the gallon off on the ponds edge...


Now I wait....

Still trying to figure out a way to change/modify the nutrient levels in the pond...I have tried to introduce some plants, but the only survivors was the water iris and hyacinth...The hyacinth did not spread or grow at the rate I was hoping for...Going to have to figure out a way to crowd it or keep it in selected areas...

I guess I have to remember this is my 1st year owning a pond...

Any grass carp in the pond?

You can get a good stand of Eurasian Water Milfoil started very easily.....

You have an evil side, Esshup.......

Not seeing much improvement with the sodium percarbonate... Might spray some with Cutrine plus tomorrow morning.. Water is down about 8-12" because we have had no rain to speak of lately.. Havn't been running well because I Was hoping to get it a level i could transplant some iris from pot to the pond bottom... Guess that can wait until I get this mess going in the right direction...

So i just fired up the well to add some fresh water hoping that might help.. This crap is going to cause me to drink!!!

Don't sweat it Sean.......in my opinion there will always be inconsistencies, and unforeseen irregularities where a pond is concerned. Differentiating between the ones that demand your immediate attention, vs. situations that are longer term, vs. those that just simply need some time to sort themselves out, is all part of the process.

I would try the Cutrine, when you catch the stuff blown into a corner....

So my well has been running for over 24 hours which has raised the pond right at a foot...If 100,000+ gallons of water don't change my water quality I don't know what will...

Pretty much exhausted trying to get rid of this algae...It moves up and down in the water column and nothing seems to touch it...I have used copper and sodium percarbonate with little to no affect...The sodium percarbonate did change the consistency of it one time when it was surfaced and blow to the edge to where I could remove with a dip net...

On very calm days like today it covers about 70-80% of the pond...

You've still got the stuff?? Hmmm.....maybe Bill will chime in with another idea or two. What are your water temps? Does it disappear with the rain, and if so, for how long?

By the way.....Happy Birthday!!